N113-173 TITLE: Desktop Software for First Order Approximations of the Effects of Blast and Ballistic Impact on Vehicles

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Ground/Sea Vehicles, Materials/Processes, Biomedical, Weapons

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM Advanced Amphibious Assault, ACAT I

RESTRICTION ON PERFORMANCE BY FOREIGN CITIZENS (i.e., those holding non-U.S. Passports): This topic is "ITAR Restricted". The information and materials provided pursuant to or resulting from this topic are restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120 - 130, which control the export of defense-related material and services, including the export of sensitive technical data. Foreign Citizens may perform work under an award resulting from this topic only if they hold the "Permanent Resident Card", or are designated as "Protected Individuals" as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3). If a proposal for this topic contains participation by a foreign citizen who is not in one of the above two categories, the proposal will be rejected.

DESCRIPTION: The Marine Corps has numerous tracked and wheeled vehicles designed to operate over harsh off-road terrain, oceans and riverine environments. Generally the design of a vehicle is subject to competing requirements: 1) mobility, 2) combat effectiveness and carrying capacity, and 3) survivability. All vehicles undergo tests to determine specification compliance and survivability using direct and indirect fire weapons, explosive charges, IED�s etc. Current trends in vehicle survivability are directed towards a base armor with modular appliqué systems available for increased protection geared towards specific threats. With the myriad of configurations of materials available it is desired that desktop software be developed for the evaluation of vehicles subjected to explosions and ballistic impact. Currently several organizations such as DARPA, ARL and NSWC are working on software development. However this work is for hydrocode (finite element) applications such as CTH, LS-DYNA and ANSYS. Current state of the art finite element software require days to weeks to develop a model and require a minimum of an hour to complete one configuration (very simple model). This is the drawback to using finite element models for initial screening of designs. This software is to be used as a design tool able to execute multiple iterations i.e. armor configurations on a desktop or laptop computer and should include the acceleration effects to the vehicle in a short time period compared to 6 finite element analyses. It is envisioned that this application would utilize a spreadsheet as its basic operating system. The first-order design tool is to screen designs solutions so that more detailed finite element analyses can be limited to the most promising designs.. In all cases the software will permit iteration on input parameters.

The desired capabilities are as follows:
1. Estimate V50 and Vxx (V0, V90, V100, etc.) and penetration depth of irregular fragments, projectiles and Fragment Simulating Projectiles (FSP) into various materials used in armor constructions.
2. Estimate crater dimensions from charge weight and depth of burial or estimate charge weight and depth of burst from crater dimensions.
3. Estimate pressure and impulse time histories for both free air and hemispherical surface bursts.
4. Compute blast forces over a 2-D shape, produce side-on and reflected pressure and impulse histories. Produce 3-D plots and animations of the blast.
5. Estimate exterior ballistics data using 3-degree-of-freedom calculations for irregular fragments, projectiles and FSPs in order to produce plots of the output.
6. Estimate plate deflection for homogeneous metals, the likelihood of plate fracture, and the response of a virtual accelerometer placed anywhere on the structure due to blast. Produce plots and animations of the response.

PHASE I: The contractor shall conduct research and develop software for evaluation of vehicles subjected to explosions and ballistic impacts for use in evaluating the vehicles performance. The contractor shall create a software design with either a single (preferred) or separate applications to generate first order performance characteristics. The contractor shall conduct a Kick-off and a Final Review meeting at the Program Office in Woodbridge, VA. Monthly reports are required.

PHASE II: The contractor shall verify and validate the software using existing unclassified ballistic test data to specified performance levels. The contractor shall provide prototype software for evaluation. The contractor shall conduct a Kick-off, 3 Semi-Annual Reviews and a Final Review meeting at the Program Office in Woodbridge, VA. Monthly reports are required.

PHASE III: Transition technology into production via sales to the US Army and US Marine Corps.

Private Sector Use of Technology: Successful development and characterization of ballistic evaluation software has direct application to a wide variety of requirements for use in development and evaluation of various military and commercial vehicles. This technology is directly applicable to all combat vehicle development and test and the evaluation of protection requirements of body armor.

REFERENCES:
1. MIL-STD-662F V50, Ballistic Test for Armor; https://assist.daps.dla.mil/quicksearch/basic_profile.cfm?ident_number=35877

2. TR-HFM-090, Test Methodology for Protection of Vehicle Occupants against Anti-Vehicular Landmine Effects; http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA473218

3. AEP-55 Vol. 2 Ed. 1, Procedures for Evaluating the Protection Level of Logistic and Light Armoured Vehicles Volume 2 for Mine Threat; http://www.dodsbir.com/Sitis/view_pdf.asp?id=N111_002%20REF%209%20AEP55%20Vol2%20Ed1%20Procedures.pdf

4. AEP-55 Vol. 1 Ed. 1, Procedures for Evaluating the Protection Level of Logistic and Light Armoured Vehicles Volume 1; http://englands1.com/ballistics/AEP-55.pdf

5. ITOP 4-2-508 Vehicle Vulnerability Tests Using Mines; https://assist.daps.dla.mil/quicksearch/basic_profile.cfm?ident_number=276301

KEYWORDS: Materials; Software; Test; Survivability.

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

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